Exporting the Revolution

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) may have chosen to launch his presidential bid from within the ranks of the Republican Party this time around, but he still characterizes himself as the Libertarian he ran as in 1988, telling the Washington Post, "I'm for the individual. I'm not for the government." Paul's record-breaking fundraising achievements and Internet popularity despite poor poll showings make him something of an atypical candidate, yet one who has arguably inspired more emulation internationally than any of his peers.

Libertarianism can perhaps be summed up most succinctly in that statement of Paul's, or, even more simply, as a belief in self-ownership. As Patrick Vessey, the leader of the United Kingdom's new Libertarian Party (LPUK) put it to Scoop08, "We believe that individuals own themselves, know how best to lead their lives, and tolerate the state – but only as a servant, not a master."

It is rolling back the state at its most principled.

As in the United States, Paul has drummed up a surprising level of online support in the United Kingdom, with Meetup groups, blogs and online forums all testaments to the enthusiasm felt for him abroad. There even exist videos on YouTube such as The Ron Paul Revolution in the UK! that details how one diehard British supporter, lamenting his inability to have any practical effect on Paul's electoral chances, constructed a campaign sign and put it up at an intersection in the hope of catching the eye of American tourists.

Despite the fact that the United Kingdom has historically possessed a far more intrusive state than the United States – the New Statesman reported in 2006 that the United Kingdom has the highest ratio of surveillance cameras to people in the world – it has never had a particularly strong libertarian movement, at least in the form of a political party.

While the American Libertarian Party has been somewhat of a political force since 1971, multiple attempts to form a similar movement in Britain have failed, due to the main body behind British libertarianism, the Libertarian Alliance (LA), being opposed to such moves. They contend that a libertarian party which sticks to its principles would be largely unpopular currently (and in the fight for electoral success it of course risks becoming unprincipled), and prefer to focus their attention on long-term growth as an intellectual movement, which they see as a far more lasting and effective method of influence than trying to cater to fickle and unreceptive voters. The LA, in its 1981 Purpose and Strategy of the Libertarian Alliance, criticizes the American branch of the movement for "ridiculous over-optimism" in assuming that immediate change can be wrought within the party system.

However, as of 2008, the U.K. has the LPUK, founded November 2007 and launched in the New Year. While its leader, Vessey, told Scoop08 via e-mail that "Ron Paul's campaign had zero impact on our decision to form," it is clear that many new supporters and members have been inspired by the Paul campaign to be part of a similar movement in the United Kingdom.

Although one of the UK's more significant small parties, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), likes to characterize itself as libertarian (describing itself in its Google search description as a "libertarian, non-racist party"), it is almost wholly concerned with retracting Britain's membership of the European Union, rather than any broader issues.

Matthew Davies is the organizer of the London Ron Paul 2008 Meetup group, blogs at Brits4RonPaul, and was one of the LPUK's first members after leaving UKIP. He asserts that, despite Vessey's denial, the Paul campaign's success in this electoral cycle was a significant inspiration to the founders, and when asked by Scoop08 what a British libertarian movement could take from Paul's success, said that "the biggest lesson learned is that there really is a growing passion for freedom across the world."

Nevertheless, the LPUK's leadership would itself have to be chronically over-optimistic to believe that their fledgling party stood any current hope of gaining power, or even any Parliamentary seats, within Britain's entrenched two-party system. Even the Liberal Democrats, the UK's third-largest party, stand little hope of being anything more than power brokers in a hung Parliament for the foreseeable future.

Unlike the United States, where Paul was able to gain support based on his unusual issue positions – most specifically as the sole Republican anti-war voice – the LPUK will have to compete with a growing number of opposition parties, which, while statist rather than individualist, are still able to appeal to voters on the issues on which the LPUK may wish to take a stand. For example, the Liberal Democrats, despite not being libertarian, have been the only major party to adopt a consistent anti-Iraq War position. This gave them a boost in the 2005 General Election, and they are also mounting a strong campaign against the government's plans to introduce ID cards.

So electoral success may not be forthcoming, but that is not really the point, says Dr. Tim Evans, president of the LA: "The question is – when will libertarian ideas spread to the point where they form a critical mass?" The Internet is clearly crucial in this effort, and has been the point of much of the focus on the 2008 Paul campaign. Paul himself has stated that the campaign never made any concerted effort to trigger an online following, but that it was something which developed almost spontaneously and took on a life of its own.

Evans concurs that the melding of an increase in awareness of libertarian ideas (he contends that it is impossible for any student of politics or economics to come away from college without having an idea of what the ideology is) with the development of new technology has been vital for the libertarian movement, and it is clear that libertarianism "boxes above its strength in the blogosphere."

One example of this, the Devil's Kitchen blog, was recently voted sixth in a survey of the best British political blogs. Initial traffic to the LPUK's online forum seems to suggest that information dissemination via the Internet has been extremely significant in encouraging membership.

As Paul puts his campaign to rest in response to the news that Sen. John McCain has won enough delegate votes to be declared the Republican Presidential nominee, it is time to begin analyzing exactly what the legacy of his 2008 campaign will be. Is this enthusiasm for libertarianism a real development, or simply a result of fleeting curiosity in an unusual candidate? Davies sees British libertarianism's lack of a charismatic public persona as a failing, and says that, despite the differences in the two political systems making it more difficult for a single person to emerge as a figurehead, "we need a talisman."

However, while Evans is ready to concede that a magnetic figure is useful for generating support for any political movement, he stresses that it is important not to over-emphasize the significance of Paul. While he does believe that his 2008 success can be viewed as "a very important signpost on the road to the future," what is far more significant as a driver of the movement is the success of the libertarian prophecy about the failure of big government and high taxes.

If this is true, interest in libertarianism should be sustainable beyond a talisman; but only time will show whether or not this is in fact the case.